Skyscript Astrology Forum

I have just been reading about one of the world's oldest observatories that was recently uncovered by archaeologists near the city of Linfen in Shanxi province in northern China.

They estimate the remains, in the Taosi relics site, are about 4,300 years old. The observatory had a 130-ft.-diameter semicircular platform made of rammed earth and surrounded by 13 stone pillars within a 200-ft. outer circle. Experts think that the observatory may have been used to mark the movement of the Sun through Earth's seasons.

The 13 pillars, each at least 13 feet tall, formed 12 gaps between them. It seems that ancient astronomers observed the direction of sunrise through the gaps. They also were able to distinguish the seasons of the year. The site may have been used to observe stars and the Moon. It is possible that the site may have been used for sacrificial rites

According to the archaeology magazine I was reading, Chinese archaeologists in 2004-2005 spent 18 months simulating ancient uses of the site to validate their theories about it. They found the seasons they calculated were only one or two days different from the traditional Chinese calendar, which is still widely used today.

Astronomical observation and the making of calendars is regarded as one of the symbols of the origin of civilization. A previously discovered historical document says that China had special officials in charge of astronomical observation as early as the 24th century BC. The discovery of this ancient observatory seems to confirm the records.

This is the only information the magazine had but I hope to find more. There have been several interesting theories about the advances that ancient Chinese made with astronomy but we don't seem to hear a lot about it. One theory I find quite interesting is that the Chinese may have been aware of precession of the equinoxes before the so called discovery of Hipparchus.

There's more detailed information on the site here: http://www.kaogu.cn/en_kaogu/show_News.asp?id=124
Such megalithic "observatories" occur all over the world. The best-known is of course Stonehenge, which is (I think) about 5000 years old.
Prehistoric farmers needed to keep track of the calender, so they erected mounds, wooden poles and, eventually, stones to mark seasonal points such as the midwinter sunrise. Over the centuries, some of these ancient astronomers developed sophisticated methods to calculate events such as eclipses and lunar standstills, using these stone markers.
There's a whole field of archeology, known as archeoastronomy that deals with this topic - www.archaeoastronomy.com has information and links.

Thanks for the link. I have had a strong interest in archaeoastronomy for many years and have read widely. I have visited a number of these sites in Britain. However, the prevailing attitude is that most of the interesting history of star observation came from Babylonia and Egypt and that they were doing this long before anyone else. This perception needs to change somewhat. If the Star Disk that was discovered in Germany recently is genuine (there is some debate that it is not) then we have an example of a star map that is older than anything found in Babylonia or Egypt. This disk was discovered in what they believe was an observatory that was used in the Bronze Age (generally considered to be between about 3500BCE-1200BCE). The discovery of the Chinese observatory confirms that the Chinese have a very long history of star observation. But, not only that, there are written records from this period that confirm it. It seems that this observatory is of a similar age to Stonehenge but there are no written records about Stonehenge that can allow us to know the exact purpose behind it - hence the speculation continues.